Trustmarks are vital to cross-border shopping

Two-thirds of online shoppers say that a trustmark is important or very important for them if they are considering a purchase from a company that is based abroad, according to research by Trusted Shops, Europe's market leader for the accreditation of online shops.

In a survey of more than 5,000 online users from the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Poland, nearly half (46 per cent) said that a trustmark was very important when shopping in a foreign online store; only a handful said not important at all (three per cent), unimportant (four per cent) or negligible (seven per cent).

Source: infas, 2012

Trusted Shops provides a Europe-wide trustmark that allows retailers to expand their markets into new countries without having to ensure a strong physical footprint in those areas. At the same time, consumers can also access a wider range of products by shopping with confidence from non-local European retailers.

The research also revealed that security and data protection are highly important factors when it comes to choosing an online store - ranking second and fourth respectively. Price is the other high-ranking factor at number one. Other motivators included respectability of the offer (third), a money-back guarantee (fifth) and fast delivery (sixth).

'When shopping online for a good deal, being able to consider products from other countries can bring huge savings, but shoppers often worry about what will happen if something goes wrong,'

commented Jean-Marc Noël, Managing Director at Trusted Shops.

'With a well-known trustmark in place, users can have the peace-of-mind they need in order to shop with confidence, and retailers can reap the benefits of a much wider audience."

Retailers that go through the Trusted Shops Trustmark accreditation process will be able to assure full buyer protection to consumers, making it easy and safe for them to shop online. Detailed audits and safe ecommerce practices will ensure that consumers can make purchases through websites carrying the trustmark, safe in the knowledge that their experience will be as safe as if they went into a high street store.